Campbell Hausfeld IronForce Compressors?

[Aaron Heck]

Hi gang,

Does anyone have any experience with the CH IronForce series of compressors, as sold at Lowes?

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=16060-1126-WL6117

I'm looking for a ~$200 upright compressor to use for general shop use and these looked like they might fit the ticket.

Aaron

[Dennis Peacock]

Hi gang,

Does anyone have any experience with the CH IronForce series of compressors, as sold at Lowes?

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=16060-1126-WL6117

I'm looking for a ~$200 upright compressor to use for general shop use and these looked like they might fit the ticket.

Aaron

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

[Tyler Howell]

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......I was waiting for you to jump in Dennis. Maybe Aaron needs to convince his wife??? We can help him out.:D
This isn't 'On call' weekend is it . I worry so when you don't get your rest.;)

TJH

[Aaron Heck]

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

Hmm....I've heard good things about them, but after doing some initial research, they seem to be hard to come by (i.e. don't seem to be sold at local stores?) and they seem to start at around $500. Do they make cheaper compressors?

Aaron

[Jim Becker]

Tractor Supply often puts the 60 gallon IR on sale for about $460 and regularly sells it for $499. Northern Tool also carries them, and although they charge about $549, it usually has free shipping and may be a good deal, depending on what your local tax rates are for a local source.

I copped the IR on sale a few weeks ago and it's super.

[john lawson]

This is an interesting thread. I am not familiar with this compressor. I have owned one of the Campbell Hausfield Extreme Duty compressors for almost three years and it has worked fine. However, and this is a very big however, I don't use my compressor that often.

I believe this is one of those tool questions that is answered depending very much on how often or how heavy the use will be. For occasional use on a tight budget, go for it. If it wears out in three years pitch it and buy another one. If you are going to use it every day, and especially if you are depending on it for income, then you might want to go with something stronger such as the IR. You also might want to consider the IR if it is quieter in a small shop, this could be very important. Otherwise, save the $200 and buy another router.

john lawson
in Birmingham

[Jim Becker]

John, one of the reasons that Dennis (and others) tend to poo-poo the CH compressors these days is apparent quality issues with the way that the regulator/valve/guage is mounted to the tank...they tend to leak and are not "user servicable" with any ease. Dennis experienced this directly not long ago and ended up returning the CH ("Husky") unit after the manufacturer insisted he drag the nearly 300 lb machine to their service center "not close by" to get the leak fixed. For the $50-$100 extra that the IR costs, you get a lot of piece of mind as well as something that normal humans can fix. That's one of the reasons why I bought the IR.

[Bruce Page]

Aaron, I can’t speak directly to the CH quality issue, although I have read more negative comments than praise. What would turn me off from this compressor is it’s “oil free” design. Everyone I’ve ever heard have been too loud for me.BTW, I have a 1986 Dayton 2hp that I have run the hell out of, and it just will not die!If & when it does I’ll be buying the IR.

[Rob Littleton]

John, one of the reasons that Dennis (and others) tend to poo-poo the CH compressors these days is apparent quality issues with the way that the regulator/valve/guage is mounted to the tank...they tend to leak and are not "user servicable" with any ease. Dennis experienced this directly not long ago and ended up returning the CH ("Husky") unit after the manufacturer insisted he drag the nearly 300 lb machine to their service center "not close by" to get the leak fixed. For the $50-$100 extra that the IR costs, you get a lot of piece of mind as well as something that normal humans can fix. That's one of the reasons why I bought the IR.

Are you claiming to be a normal human..........?

[Byron Trantham]

Aaron,
I have a Sears oilless and I can't wait until it dies. It's just two noisy. However, as one guy already said, I too don't use it that much so the sucker will probably out last me! :mad:

I know the IR seems expensive but I am still replacing tools I tried to save money on. Good luck.

[Aaron Heck]

Thanks for all of the opinions, guys. It does seem that the IR gets very high praise around here. I did fail to mention that portability is maybe the #1 concern. I am sharing basically a 1 car garage with the rest of my shop, lawnmower, fridge, etc, so I need something I can move. I was hoping for something on wheels.

I also didn't know the CH I listed was oil-less. Thanks for pointing that out. I did find a "twin-stack' IR compressor at Grainger.com for $299. I really just need this for hobby work, maybe some nail guns, blow off tools, maybe get into HVLP, but that's the extend of it. Just weekend warrior stuff.....

Thanks again.
Aaron

[Bart Leetch]

I wouldn't recommend CH compressors to anyone.....Been there and leared the lesson. Happy Ingersol Rand owner......

Hi Dennis

I had a chance to look at a $300 7hp 60 gallon CH compressor & saw the problem you are talking about. I can understand why you feel the way you do.

I had a friend with me that retired from a fuel refinery & I pointed out the plastic fitting & line from the pressure switch that went through a hole in the motor mounting plate to the tank.

Then we started looking at what it would take to make it work right & not leak.

Replace the pressure switch & plug the hole in the top of the tank & re-plumb the line from the compressor head to the tank with new plumbing with a tee above the motor mounting plate instead of through the hole in the plate to connect the pressure switch to..

I figure the price is right Lowes said it was the regular price & it is fairly inexpensive & fixable for about $20.

Now is there anything else wrong with this unit? I would really be interested to know.

I know no one should have to fix a problem with something brand new. But for someone looking for a reasonable priced air compressor & not afraid to spend a little time & $20 it would work ok. Of course I don't know to much about the idea. (tongue in cheek) ;) I built my own 50 gallon up right air compressor from parts I rounded up. They are really pretty simple to build. I just want a bigger more powerful one & I haven't seen one at this price anywhere.

I found this dissertation about air compressors by Forrest Addy

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000039.html

[Dennis Peacock]

I was waiting for you to jump in Dennis. Maybe Aaron needs to convince his wife??? We can help him out.:D
This isn't 'On call' weekend is it . I worry so when you don't get your rest.;)

TJH

Tyler ol' buddy....

You're in LUCK..!!!! I'm NOT oncall this week so now you can rest your weary head and relax this coming weekend. :D

yea, I had to jump in on this one....after all I went through with CH over the new compressor I bought from HD and it leaking right from the start and CH customer service was less than what I expected...well...even less than THAT.!!! Don't go and get me started on that little "Hootin'-Nanny".!!!! ;)

[Dennis Peacock]

Aaron, I can’t speak directly to the CH quality issue, although I have read more negative comments than praise. What would turn me off from this compressor is it’s “oil free” design. Everyone I’ve ever heard have been too loud for me.BTW, I have a 1986 Dayton 2hp that I have run the hell out of, and it just will not die!If & when it does I’ll be buying the IR.

Bruce,

You are CORRECT sir..!!! I talked to 2 different CH Warranty Shops and they BOTH warned me of the CH Oilless compressors as well as the CH made compressors sold by the BB stores. They said that they fix multiple dozens of them every year and they also stated that they "may" fix a single IR compressor in a years time.

The other thing they both stated is that the pressure switch leak and poor deisgn has been like that for 2 years now and with no improvment to the switch nor the design to do away with the plastic line and fittings.

To me? If the problem existed for the past 2 years.....then someone ain't listening to the service centers nor the customer base. Nuff said.

[Rob Russell]

I know this doesn't help Aaron, but I have a 20 gal, 4.5 HP C-H compressor that's been serving me just fine for 10 years or so. It's a cast iron head, oilled, horizontal roll-around type. As I remember, it's good for about 6.5 cfm @ 90 PSI.

It did "run out of gas" when I was sand-blasting the iron railings from our front steps. It drove a pressurized spray-pot just fine. It drove a regular cup-style non-HVLP spray gun just fine. It had enough air to reseat the bead on my chipper-shredder tire when that popped off due to low air.

I'm still considering picking up a used vertical unit that needs a head rebuild, mostly 'cuz I can get it cheap. Another project? Maybe it's my head that needs the rebuild.

One piece of advice ... I mounted a water filter on to my compressor (between the handles) with a female quick connect on the output side. That's effectively the main connection to the compressor (everything from that Q-C back is hard plumbed with line or tubing/clamps). That way, even when the compressor has travelled to a work site, the air is at least filtered for moisture.

Rob

[Chris Padilla]

First, I have the 25-gal two-stage Sears Craftman Professional series (black one, not red) and it has been doing just fine for a year now. My neighbor has had his for 3...no problems...the reason I picked one up.

I have a couple of questions:

Can someone point me to a valve that allows you to drain the water from the tank but not the air? I believe I saw Mr. Becker chatting about one once.

Mr. Russell, I see that you have done some sand-blasting. Do you (or anyone else for that matter) have some recommendations for sand-blasting equipment? I think I might like to have one that can blast various materials along with good old sand.

I run into projects now and then that could easily be taken care of with some sand-blasting equipment.

Thanks!

[Rob Russell]

Can someone point me to a valve that allows you to drain the water from the tank but not the air? I believe I saw Mr. Becker chatting about one once.



The slickest way to do this is to have an electrically operated pnuematic solenoid valve on a timer. The timer would be set for once a week. It would ideally trip a timer relay that cycles for only 5-10 seconds. jThe timer realy powers a "normally closed" solenoid valve which opens and dumps out any water. When the timer relay kills power to the solenoid drain, it closes.



Mr. Russell, I see that you have done some sand-blasting. Do you (or anyone else for that matter) have some recommendations for sand-blasting equipment?



"Mr. Russell" ... makea me feel likea old man :-)

There are 2 basic types of sand blasters: venturi feed and pressure feed. The venturi feed ones are cheap, don't work as well and suck more air. The pressurized ones cost more, use less air and work better. I have one of the cheapo C-H venturi feed ones from H-D, think it was $40-50.

One a venturi feed, the abrasive feed is sort of a right angle "T" into the air stream. As the air passes the abrasive feed, sand is sucked into the air stream and blows out the tip. On a pressurized system, the abrasive tank is sealed and pressurized. Exactly how abrasive is fed to the air/sand mix, I don't know - but they work better.

If you're gonna be doing any sand blasting, spend the $100 or so and get a pressurized unit. I can tell you that the gravity feed/venturi unit worked, but not as well as I'd hoped. The project was blasting paint/rust off of cast iron railings.

Mr. Russell

[Wes Bischel]

Aaron,
I would concur with the comments on oil-less units. I understand they are easier to rebuild, are lighter weight, produce "cleaner" air (no potential for oil in the air) and cheaper. But for my money, the noise and shorter life span (before rebuild) are not worth it. The oil units will cost more, but usually last longer. I have a DeVilbiss unit from Lowes (which they don't carry anymore) - 60 gal. and an old Craftsman 20 gal. which is almost 20 years old. Both have served me well. Something else to watch for is 110 vs. 220VAC - some of the larger oil units are 220.

Chris,
Look at TP Tools http://www.tptools.com/ They have a lot of equipment both stand alone and cabinets, plus kits to make your own cabinet - which is what I did.

Good luck, Wes

[Rob Russell]

Hi gang,

Does anyone have any experience with the CH IronForce series of compressors, as sold at Lowes?

I'm looking for a ~$200 upright compressor to use for general shop use and these looked like they might fit the ticket.

Aaron

I thought about what I'd do if I were out looking for a compressor right now, based on the assumption that I didn't have one.

For "general shop use" (GSU) , I'd get a good quality hot dog or pancake style compressor.
Yes, they're oilless.
Yes, that means they're a bit noiser.
Yes, it means they put out a little less air than a larger, belt driven compressor.

A GSU compressor isn't going to see a whole lot of use. It's not like you have a widebelt sander that uses air for belt tracking, are running a spray booth or doing a lot of sand-blasting, or are running an air-hungry sander. There have been several times when I almost bought a hotdog style compressor because of the desire to use air somewhere else than my basement or garage (have pipe running up to the garage).

When we did our addition, I ran an air line into the laundry room sink cabinet. As a side note - how's that for cool! Be the first on your block to have compressed air actually in your house. :D :D

A hotdog compressor will drive a spray gun (including HVLP), just not a huge air hungry one.
A hotdog compressor will drive any nail gun/stapler you will ever own.
A hotdog compressor will drive any impact wrench you will ever own.
A hotdog compressor will fill any tire you ever need to put air in.

BTW - stay away from the Dewalt-labelled compressors. The local big box folks told me they had a whole bunch of them returned for quality problems.

The convenience of being able to grab the compressor and take it places is worth something. As far as noise is concerned, you can make an insulated sound hood for it. Plus, the smal units fit lots of places the larger ones don't.

YMMV.

Rob

[Aaron Heck]

Rob,

Thanks for that info. Good info. You know, I'm learning toward doing exactly what you said. I know I really don't need a $500 compressor - and although I'd really like one, it's just not a wise purchase. After all, I just totally blew my tool budget for the year on a used MM16.

That sucks to hear about the DeWalt compressors, though. I had previously heard good things about them and had wanted to give them some serious thought. What I might end up doing is going down to the local PC/Delta service center and picking up one of their recon'd units. Dang, even that $300 PC combo that includes 2 nail guns looks pretty good, too.

I have a buddy who's looking for a compressor, too. He wanted the ability to use an impact wrench. I had thought these needed a lot of air and pressure. He'll be glad to hear that they neessarily don't.

Aaron

[Rob Russell]

Rob,

Thanks for that info. Good info. You know, I'm learning toward doing exactly what you said. I know I really don't need a $500 compressor - and although I'd really like one, it's just not a wise purchase. After all, I just totally blew my tool budget for the year on a used MM16.

That sucks to hear about the DeWalt compressors, though. I had previously heard good things about them and had wanted to give them some serious thought. What I might end up doing is going down to the local PC/Delta service center and picking up one of their recon'd units. Dang, even that $300 PC combo that includes 2 nail guns looks pretty good, too.

I have a buddy who's looking for a compressor, too. He wanted the ability to use an impact wrench. I had thought these needed a lot of air and pressure. He'll be glad to hear that they neessarily don't.

Aaron

Our local HD was clearing out the hotdogs. They had a couple Hitachi twin tanks for about $200. Of all the things I listed above, the spray gun is probably the one you'd be pushing it with. If you expect to do a lot of spraying, get (2) hot dogs and hook them up in parallel for those times when you need to CFM. Otherwise, just use the 1.

[Aaron Heck]

I know the Ingersoll Rand Garage Mate was highly recommended here. Unfortunately, I think the $500 is pushing it. What do you guys think about this one?

http://air.irco.com/asg/small_recip/portable/twin_stack.asp

It's about half of the price. I could probably afford the upright, but I just don't know if I'll ever need more than the twin stack. Besides, that difference might buy a few nail guns.

And another question: If compressor A is rated at 5.3cfm@40 and compressor B is rated at 4.5cfm@100, which is better and why? Or is it even possible to compare these 2 numbers because of the different pressures?

Aaron


Aaron

[Rob Russell]

I know the Ingersoll Rand Garage Mate was highly recommended here. Unfortunately, I think the $500 is pushing it. What do you guys think about this one?

http://air.irco.com/asg/small_recip/portable/twin_stack.asp

It's about half of the price. I could probably afford the upright, but I just don't know if I'll ever need more than the twin stack. Besides, that difference might buy a few nail guns.

And another question: If compressor A is rated at 5.3cfm@40 and compressor B is rated at 4.5cfm@100, which is better and why? Or is it even possible to compare these 2 numbers because of the different pressures?

Aaron


Take a look at the owners manual they have a link to. It shows that compressor as doing 4.4 CFM at 90 psi and 4.1 CFM @ 125 psi. If you take a SWAG-it average, it'll do about 4.3 CFM at 100 psi.

Close enough to 4.5 CFM at 100 psi for me.

The real way you make a decision on compressors is to look at the tools you want to run and then buy enough compressor. 4+ CFM @ 90 is enough to run pretty much anything you'll want around the house. Nail guns - no problem. Impact wrench - it'll cycle frequently, but it'll drive them - unless you're trying to run one of the honker industrial impact wrenches and taking off tractor-trailer truck tires (those are higher pressure too). Spray gun - depends. Home Depot sells cup guns that'll run on the 4 CFM - but the compressor will run continuously. You'll never run a sander or sand-blaster off of that compressor for more than a few seconds.

[Joe Bourbois]

First, I have the 25-gal two-stage Sears Craftman Professional series (black one, not red) and it has been doing just fine for a year now. My neighbor has had his for 3...no problems...the reason I picked one up.


Chris, how's that 2-stage work out for spraying?

[Chris Padilla]

Joe, to be honest...I don't know! I have an Apollo 1000, 4-stage turbine HVLP. I bought this sprayer long before I bought my compressor so obviously I have not used my compressor for spraying. Sorry. :(

[Curt Harms]

Hi Dennis
......

I know no one should have to fix a problem with something brand new. But for someone looking for a reasonable priced air compressor & not afraid to spend a little time & $20 it would work ok. Of course I don't know to much about the idea. (tongue in cheek) ;) I built my own 50 gallon up right air compressor from parts I rounded up. They are really pretty simple to build. I just want a bigger more powerful one & I haven't seen one at this price anywhere.

I found this dissertation about air compressors by Forrest Addy

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000039.html

I had something similar on an airless CH. Picked it up at WallyWorld for $150, may have been a return. Switch/unloader went bad out of warranty. I went to the authorized repair place and bought another Switch/unloader. Brought it home, installed it and it leaked. Tried everything I could think of and it still leaked. Took the CH part back, went to Grainger and bought a SquareD pressure switch/unloader. Did a little replumbing and it's worked great ever since. Like Bart said, about $20

Curt